R.C. Sproul Interview - 5 Things Every Christian Needs to Grow: Part 2

This is part two of a three-part interview with Dr. R.C. Sproul over his most recent book, Five Things Every Christian Needs To Grow. You might want to read Part 1 first. Part three will be posted sometime next week. [Update: Part 3 has been posted.]

CHEDIAK: You write that the third thing every Christian needs to grow is worship. Is there a relationship between worship and evangelism? Because I noticed you did not specifically mention evangelism as one of the five things every Christian needs to grow.

DR. SPROUL: I consider the third step for growth in the Christian life to be that of worship. I think we’re living in a time of incredible crisis even of our understanding of what worship is. David Wells shook the Christian world several years ago with the publication of his book, No Place for Truth, in which he chronicled the superficial style of so much that passes for worship in our day. Much of Christian worship today has degenerated into entertainment or pop psychology, involving anything but offering a sacrifice of praise and reverence to a holy God. I know that there are all different kinds of styles and shapes and forms of worship, but however our worship is framed, it must focus on God, on His holiness, on His transcendent majesty. Our spirits must be moved to a sense of awe and reverence for Him. God is seeking people who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. Spirit worship — spiritual worship — is not worship that is done by rote. Spiritual worship comes from the heart. It’s not empty. It’s not formalistic or ritualistic. That doesn’t mean we despise the forms or we despise the rituals. Those are important. But they have to be filled with the affection of the heart. Also, our worship is to be true. It is to be according to truth, according to the directives that God Himself gives to us in Scripture. I explore that to some degree in the book. Now, I also believe that we distinguish among these different steps, but can’t really separate them. Prayer is a necessary element of worship and when we worship we are there to hear the Word of God. We think for example of witnessing, our outreach to the community. Our evangelism, for example, is an expression of our belief in the truth, of our prayer life, and of our worship.

CHEDIAK: The fourth is service.

DR. SPROUL: The fourth category that I explore in this book is the category that I call service. In Biblical terms, all of the ministries in the Bible, including that of the apostle, that of the prophet, that of the missionary, that of the preacher, the teacher, the steward, the administrator—all of these were considered offices of service, of diakonia. Even the deacons, who were distinguished by that word, manifested this whole operation of being engaged with the community, in being involved in what we call mercy ministry making sure that the naked are clothed, that the prisoners are visited, and that we care for the people who are lonely and wounded in our community, particularly the widows and the orphans. Jesus came to serve us and the servant is not above his Master. We, if we are to grow in our Christian life, have to be engaged in the Christian life and that means to serve--to serve Him and to serve His people.

CHEDIAK: The fifth category is stewardship, which I’m assuming includes tithing and using our gifts?

DR. SPROUL: The last category that I explore briefly in this little book is one of stewardship. A steward is by definition someone who does not own what he governs. A steward in the biblical framework was one who would be hired to manage the affairs of the household. He didn’t own the house. He worked in the house. He managed the house.

All that we possess belongs to God. And the Bible calls us to be stewards of the gifts, the talents, and the things that He has provided for us. Our very lives are on loan from God. I have to be a good steward of my life, what I do with my life. I have to make a careful examination of the gifts and talents that God has given to me, and understand that these abilities are not something that I can take credit for ultimately. They are gifts. And I am called to use them in His service. The more I exercise the gifts that God gives to me in ministry, the more I grow. We often think of stewardship almost exclusively in terms of finances and of tithing, and there’s a crisis there. In the Old Testament, God required that His people give a tenth of their earnings of a given year, a tenth of their gain back to Him. That was right off the top. This wasn’t any clever “mathemagics” to trim that one-tenth or the tithe that they were giving. And yet I hear all the time from people now who say, “that was an Old Testament responsibility; that we live in the New Testament and we’re not bound by that responsibility of tithing.” There is some truth in that but on the other hand, the New Testament makes it clear that the new covenant is a better covenant. It gives us more than the people of old received in Israel. And if anything, the responsibilities for financial support of the work of the kingdom are greater in the New Testament than they were in the Old Testament.

I read an article that said of all of the Christians who called themselves "born again", only 4% practiced tithing. If that’s true, and if what Malachi says at the end of the Old Testament is true, that means 96% of us as professing Christians are routinely, continuously, systematically, impenitently robbing God. I have to say that to learn to be a tither is to experience a whole new joy of being a Christian. I have yet in my lifetime to meet somebody who tithes his or her income, and regrets it or is upset about it. I hear from people all the time. I wish that people would understand that you cannot out give God. The reason why we are called to stewardship is for the work of the kingdom. Somebody has to finance it and it’s our responsibility to do that.

Related: Interview with R.C. Sproul - Part One; Part Three; Short Videos